Operation Red Paint
by sidhefaerie
Summary: Arthur is the director of a secret agency. He sets Merlin and Morgan up in a make believe covert operation to fix them up.


**Characters**: Arthur/Gwen, Merlin/Morgana OC's (Mrs. Wilson)  
**Rating:** T/PG  
**Summary:** Arthur is the director of a secret agency. He sets Merlin and Morgan up in a make believe covert operation to fix them up.  
**Word Count:** 3744  
**Prompt#2:** "You forgot our anniversary!"  
"You're upset because I forgot our imaginary anniversary?"  
"... Yes."  
**Written for Merlin_Writers October 2013 Theme "Pretend Relationships"**

**Operation Red Paint**  
Merlin and Morgana met outside the Director's office.

"What are you doing here, Pendragon?" Merlin asked.

Merlin looked Morgana Pendragon up and down. She was dressed as per usual in a tight black skirt and one button too many undone on her white blouse. He blushed slightly as his eyes lingered on her cleavage a second longer than he meant to.

"The director called me in." Morgana said as she caught him looking. She returned the favor by glancing down at his tight black jeans which left nothing to the imagination. "What are you doing here, Emrys?"

"Same. Shall we see what this is all about?" Merlin said.

"Of course." Morgana smiled.

Merlin knocked on the door and a voice behind it called out for them to come in.

Arthur Pendragon gave them a serious look as they entered. "Sit. We have little time. I need you both in the field right away." He hit a button on the phone. "Gwen, bring in the material packet for 'Operation Red Paint'."

Gwen walked in a few moments later with a file box. She sat it on the desk and turned to leave.

"Stay Gwen. You are going to be their handler for this operation." Arthur told her.

Gwen shut the door and sat on the sofa behind Merlin and Morgana.

"What is all this about?" Merlin asked.

"There is an international art thief at large and we want the two of you to keep an eye on his mother uncase he comes round there. Here is a picture of the woman you are going to be watching." Arthur put a black and white photo on the desk in front of them. He smiled at them. "You will be posing as a married couple that has just moved into the area."

"No. you must be joking." Morgana said as she wrinkled her nose. "There is no way I would even date him much less marry him."

Merlin looked at her and mad a face. "I can see it. But it won't be a happy marriage."

Gwen bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Arthur sighed. "Will you two act like professionals and not like teenagers for once?"

Merlin and Morgana both turned and glared at Arthur.

"That's better. In the box you will find rings, passports and a file of your vital statistics. Memorize them. If you are asked questions, you must have the same answers. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Merlin said as he pulled the box towards them.

"Morgana?" Arthur looked at his sister, expectantly.

"Yes. Fine." Morgana waved her hand in surrender.

"Here Pudding, let me put your ring on." Merlin said with a smirk.

Morgana groaned and held out her hand. Merlin slid on the simple gold band on her finger. She pulled her hand back and looked at the ring in disgust.

"Great! He's cheap too." Morgana sighed.

"I'm just a hard working bloke from…." Merlin looked at the file. "Ealdor? Where the hell is that?"

Morgana grabbed the file. "It's a farming village in Wales. Great! I really married beneath myself that's for sure."

"Here are two tickets for York. The train leaves in three hours so get moving." Arthur put an envelope on top of the photo. "There is a map to the safe house in there from the station and try to not get discovered."

Morgana scooped up the photo and envelope as she walked to the door. Merlin picked up the file box and followed her.

"Aren't you going to open the door for me Sugar Biscuit?" Morgana asked with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Oh course Pudding!" Merlin opened the door and held it as Morgana went through. Merlin shot a glare back at Arthur before he followed her shutting the door behind him.

Arthur looked at Gwen. "Thank you for not laughing. It would have ruined everything."

"This is a lot to go through just to get them together." Gwen said as she came and sat on Arthur's desk. "Morgana will either kill him or shag him."

"Knowing my sister she will shag him and then kill him. She enjoys toying with her prey." Arthur said with a smirk.

"Arthur!" Gwen admonished him. She smiled and nudged his leg with her stiletto clad toe. "What are you going to do when this fake operation is over? There will be consequences."

"Right now they are listed on leave. So there will be no consequences to me." Arthur said as he sat back in his chair.

"That is not what I meant." Gwen tilted her head at him. "What if they get on and want to stay together?"

Arthur ran his hand up Gwen's leg and smiled. "We wish them well and buy them a wedding gift."

"I will remember you said that." Gwen removed his hand from her leg and got off the desk. "I have work to do."

"Hmmm. Dinner?" Arthur asked.

"Of course as long as you are desert." Gwen leaned over and gave him a chaste peck on the cheek. She walked to the door and turned to give him a seductive smile.

"I'll bring the chocolate sauce." Arthur said.

Gwen giggled as she went through the door closing it behind her.

"This had better work." Arthur muttered to himself.

The sexual tension between Morgana and Merlin was so thick you could spread it on a scone. Everyone seemed to pick up on it but them. Arthur was hoping to make them feel it too by being cooped up together for a month. One way or another, the tension had to be broken.  
X

Merlin and Morgana arrived in York and found the safe house easily. It was a small flat in a rather run down building.

Merlin struggled with Morgana's heavy cases up the two flights of stairs at the furnished flat where they were going to stay for the next month.

Morgana leaned over the rail and gave him an evil smile. "You are such a good husband. I would have never been able to manage them."

Merlin looked up at her and gave her a grin that made Morgana wonder what he was going to do to get back at her for this.

A door opened behind morgana a little old woman came out. "Hello there! You must be the new couple in 2B. I'm Mrs. Wilson in 2D.

"Uh…. I'm Morgana Smith." Morgana pointed over the rail. "That is my husband Merlin."

Mrs. Wilson looked over the rail. "Lucky girl. He is cutie. My Homer passed last year. We were married 25 years. How long have you been married?"

Merlin dropped the cases at the top of the stairs. "We have been married 4 years. We met at university, didn't we, Pudding?"

Morgana smiled and nodded. She hadn't read the file so she was glad that Merlin had.

"You must come for tea when you get settled." Mrs. Wilson smiled

"We would love to. Thanks." Morgana said.

Mrs. Wilson went back inside her flat.

Morgana looked relieved. "Thanks for the save."

"You should have been prepping and not reading fashion mags on the train." Merlin said.

"Trains make me nervous." Morgana said.

"Just open the door, Pudding." Merlin picked up the cases again.

Morgana unlocked the furnished flat and Merlin pushed past her inside.

Morgana looked around at the shabby furniture and sighed. "I am going to kill my brother. This is horrible."

Merlin opened the one of the closed doors. "There is only one bedroom it seems. Flip for it?"

"No. I am not flipping for it. You get the sofa. Bring in the rest of the bags." Morgana went over to the kitchenette and opened the refrigerator. "I have to get a list together to shop for food. Allergies?"

"No." Merlin grunted as he pulled in the last bag and kicked the door closed. "Just nothing too fancy we are supposed to be struggling as if the apartment didn't give you a hint."

"Can you cook?" Morgana turned around and held up a beat up skillet.

"Some. Have you no domestic skills at all?" Merlin plopped down on the sofa. A cloud of dust filled the air. Merlin sneezed. "By the way, I will help you kill Arthur when we get back to London."

"We have servants, remember?" Morgana sat gingerly on the upholstered chair. "There is no need for me to learn to cook or clean."

Merlin sighed. He leaned his head back again and sneezed as he disturbed more dust. "No wonder we are struggling."

"You don't have to be such an ass, Merlin." Morgana said.

"I'll do the shopping. Let me take a minute to rest." Merlin said. "It might be best since I will be cooking it up."

"Who are we here to watch anyway?" Morgana asked.

The woman we are watching lives in 2A. Her name is Hilda Frank." Merlin told her.

"I wonder if that sweet Mrs. Wilson is friends with her. I should go to tea with her and find out." Morgana said.

"I have a job at the local pub." Merlin said. "So I will be out most nights."

"Did it say what my job was?" Morgana asked.

"You don't have one. Remember the struggling thing?" Merlin held up his hands. "You should pretend to look for work while getting information from our neighbor."

"Yes. Merlin, don't you think it odd that an international art thief's mother lives in a shabby flat in York?" Morgana asked.

"Maybe they aren't on good terms." Merlin shrugged. "Not everyone loves their mother."

"It's just suspicious that's all." Morgana said.

"You better study the file before you get invited to tea. She will pump you for information about us. She seems the nosey type." Merlin said.

"I'll do that while you shop. Where is the bag with our operation gear?" Morgana said.

Merlin raised his head and pointed to a blue laptop bag he had placed on top of their bags. "Everything is in my laptop bag. There is an internet café on the map where we can do check-ins and email."

Morgana reached over and grabbed the bag. She opened it and pulled out the file.

Merlin stood and brushed off the dust and headed out to shop. He had seen a small grocery shop on their way from the train station.

Later that evening when they were eating, Morgana pointed to the file on the table. "According to this I worked as a hostess at an upscale restaurant before we moved here. I imagine we ate a lot of leftovers from there."

"That explains the reason you still don't know how to cook after 4 years of marriage." Merlin grinned.

"Very funny." Morgana flipped a forkful of mash at him. it hit him on the chest.

"Morgana!" Merlin glared at her and got up. He brushed off the mash and put their plates in the sink. He looked back at her. "Wash or dry?"

"Wash or dry what?" Morgana was confused.

"We need to get everything washed up unless you want to attract the bugs and mice that are probably hiding at the moment." Merlin said.

"Dry." Morgana said. She came over to the sink and Merlin handed her the towel.

When they were done, Morgana went into the bedroom and Merlin lay on the sofa that he had covered with a sheet.

Merlin listened for a while for signs of movement and drifted off to sleep.  
X

Over the week, Merlin and Morgana fell into a pattern. Merlin maintained their cover story while Morgana made friends with the neighbors and feigned looking for work. She was really following their target. The operation was going without a hitch. It was so uneventful that it was even making Merlin suspicious.  
X

At headquarters Gwen walked in carrying a file.

"Arthur, Merlin and Morgana checked in." Gwen handed him the file.

He opened it and read the printed email. He looked up a Gwen and smiled. "Good now it is time for a little excitement."

"What are you up to?" Gwen gave him a curious look.

Arthur picked up the phone and dialed. "You'll see. Hello Sarah. It's time that we stepped it up a bit for them. We will be sending you a package. Make sure they see you get it. Oh and well done, Agent Mills. I could not have done this without you."

Gwen stared at Arthur as he hung up the phone. "Sarah Mills? You are using a retired agent to pull off this game?"

"Yes I am. She says they are doing a fine job." Arthur smiled. "I will have one of our contacts in France send a painting. Something on velvet, I think."

"Arthur, you are enjoying this far too much. They will want to kill you when they find out you are behind it all." Gwen said.

"They will be too busy shagging to even bother with me." Arthur said. "I'm sure you will get an update again in a few days."

Gwen sighed and went back to her desk.

When she had left Arthur picked up the phone and called the France contact to send the prearranged package.  
X

Three days later, Morgana came home to find a package leaning against the wall next to Hilda Frank's door. She pulled out her mini camera that is shaped like a lipstick and took a picture of the packing label.

Morgana looked at her watch. She didn't have enough time to try to see what was in the mailing tube and reseal it. The target would be home any moment.  
Morgana knew Mrs. Frank was at her physio class. Mrs. Wilson went to the same class and they shared a taxi home.

Morgana heard the women head up the stairs and she ducked into her flat. She looked through the peep hole as Mrs. Frank took the package inside. Morgana sighed and went to make a note in the log and download the photo of the packing label. She would have to wait for Merlin to get home to go over it with him.

Merlin came home at his usual time and sniffed the air. It smelled like pine trees. "Morgana?"

Morgana emerged from the bathroom with rubber gloves on. "I saw a bug so I started to clean."

"Who would put a listening device in here?" Merlin said.

"No. A nasty little bug with legs and ….Never mind. I have intel. it's on the laptop." Morgana went back into the bathroom.

Merlin opened the laptop and looked at the log and the photo she had taken. He thought he recognized that return address but he was sure he couldn't have done.

"Morgana, did you get to see inside it?" Merlin asked.

"No. She came home and took it inside. I wonder what painting it was. There wasn't a list in the file." Morgana said. "I checked twice."

"I noticed that too. Did the return address seem familiar to you?" Merlin asked.

"No." Morgana came out of the bathroom. "There I'm done. I did the shopping."

"Thanks." Merlin said. "I'll cook in a minute."

Morgana plopped down in the chair. No dust cloud came up.

"Did you run the hoover too?" Merlin looked at her in astonishment.

"Yes. That is what you do when you clean. I ran it over the furniture too." Morgana glared at him.

"How do you even know to do that?" Merlin looked at her.

"Mrs. Wilson has been helping me be a better 'wife'. I told her I am rubbish at cleaning. She told me what I needed to do." Morgana glared at him.

"You are around her a lot?" Merlin said.

"She knows the target. They have physio together. She gossips like a fiend." Morgana waved her hand. She pulled off her gloves. "Merlin, are you going to stare at me or cook some food? All this cleaning has me famished."

Merlin closed the laptop and went to see what she had bought. He pulled out some things to make dinner. He turned around. "Morgana, can she teach you to cook too?"

"Sometimes, you are a complete ass!" Morgana said.

Merlin chuckled and turned back to what he was doing.

After dinner was cleared up they went to sleep in their usual places.

Morgana hesitated at the bedroom door before she finally closed it. She stood with her back against the door. Merlin wasn't as much of an ass as she thought. She was actually starting to like having him around. She thought she must have inhaled too many cleaning fumes. She shook her head and went to bed.

Merlin laid awake on the sofa thinking about Morgana and the way she had been handling things. He had to admit that the cleaning thing was a real surprise. She wasn't as bad as he thought she would be. She was actually really sweet in a snarky kind of way. He thought that it was just the mission and he needed to keep it professional.

The next morning, Merlin made the report to Gwen. He went to the internet café and logged on to send the email.

Morgana was bored so she went over the files again in case she had missed something. She made a face as she read one page. It wasn't like Merlin to miss a detail but he had.

When Merlin came back to the flat, he was surprised to find Morgana sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed and looking angry.

"What is it? What happened?" Merlin asked.

"You forgot our anniversary!" Morgana said. She actually sounded hurt.

"You're upset because I forgot our imaginary anniversary?" Merlin looked at her like she was mental.

"... Yes." Morgana took a deep breath. "You're my fake husband you should remember our fake anniversary and make an effort."

"Morgana, real husbands never remember anniversaries." Merlin said. "I have the night off. We will do something tonight if you want."

"I don't want to go out." Morgana actually pouted.

"I said I was sorry." Merlin said as he sat next to her on the sofa. "Come on now. Cheer up. We have another two weeks at this and then we can go back to London and live our own lives."

Morgana gave him a strange look. "Go to hell!"

"Morgana?!" Merlin didn't what to think. Then he thought that she may be staging a fight for the neighbors. "It's not liked we have that much to celebrate. You are a terrible wife."

Morgana was shocked at what he said. She raised her hand to slap Merlin but he caught it and pulled her to him.

"What the bloody hell are you doing? I thought we were fighting for the neighbors." Merlin whispered. "Are you really upset with me?"

"Yes you ass." Morgana hissed.

Merlin grinned and pulled her to her feet. He pulled her against him and kissed her hard and passionate.

Morgana responded quicker than he expected by running her hands down his chest and around his back.

Merlin broke the kiss and looked down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was a mess.

Morgana pushed out of his arms and hesitated as if she was trying to decide what to do. She smiled and ripped open his shirt. The buttons flew in all directions.

"Oh so that is what we are doing." Merlin whispered huskily as he grabbed her and lifted her in his arms.

Morgana wrapped her legs around him and pulled off her top as he carried them to the bedroom. Merlin was biting and sucking at her neck as they hit the bed.

Clothes hit the floor in a flurry. Merlin pushed her naked body down on the bed and got on top of her. Morgana wrapped her arms and legs around him as he kissed her again.

Morgana moaned as Merlin entered her. He took her hard and fast as morgana met him in perfect rhythm. They were wild and desperate as they made love.

Morgana arched her back and dug her nails into his shoulders as she climaxed. Merlin came with a groan and collapsed on top of her.

They lay in that position for nearly an hour not saying a thing.

"Merlin." Morgana whispered.

"Yeah." Merlin looked up at her. Her hair spilled out over the pillow. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"I think we have been set up." Morgana said.

"I know. I suspected as much." Merlin said. "We will deal with Arthur later. Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Morgana ruffled his hair and smiled. "So are you going to get me a gift for our anniversary or not?"

Merlin looked at her. "I just…"

Morgana raised a well sculpted eyebrow and tilted her head at him. "Well?"

"In the morning, after I call Arthur to tell him we are coming back to London." Merlin said. "But now I can only think of one thing."

"Yes. I know its poking me in the leg." Morgana giggled.

"Give me a minute and it will be poking you somewhere else." Merlin smirked.

"Merlin!" Morgana giggled.

Merlin smothered her giggles with a slow deep kiss.

The next morning, Merlin got up before she woke up and went to call Arthur. He pulled the mobile from his laptop bag and turned it on. He dialed Arthur's direct line as soon as he got a signal.

"Merlin, you know better than to call in when you are on an operation." Arthur said on the other side.

"There is no operation. There was no art thief. No operation except to get me to shag your sister. She shagged and we are coming back to London tomorrow." Merlin said.

"Merlin!" Arthur said into the phone. I can hear that you are angry but I really didn't need to know that you shagged my sister."

"Wasn't that the plan?" Merlin asked.

"I …I am not going to answer that." Arthur said.

"Because it was." Merlin said.

"What train are you taking?" Arthur asked.

"The early one." Merlin said. "You better make sure Gwen is there when we get in to protect you. Morgana is livid."

"Duly noted." Arthur said. "I'll send a car to pick you up."

"Thanks." Merlin disconnected the call.

Merlin reached into his laptop case and pulled out the gift he had bought Morgana for their fake anniversary. It was a green silk scarf. Her color.


End file.
